Reel World

\ Oct 06, 2005

3 min read

Movie Mecca—The Second Annual New Mexico Middle East Film Festival will take place Friday, Oct. 7, though Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Guild Cinema. Additional screenings will be held Oct. 8 and 9 at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe. The timely festival will feature more than 30 films from countries across the Arab world. Film selections include narratives and documentaries that explore the themes of women, history, art, religion, war and occupation, human rights and the representation of Arabs and Arab-Americans in the media.

Special guests include Garret Scott, director of Occupation: Dreamland, a melancholy portrait of American soldiers deployed in the Iraqi city of Falluja. Mona Mikhail, Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at NYU, will be on hand to present her film Live on Stage: A Century and a Half of Theater in Egypt. Riad Hamad, Director of the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund, will discuss topics related to Lebanon and Palestine and will introduce several films.

Tickets are $8 general, $6 students. Day passes and full festival passes are also available. Tickets can be purchased at the Guild (3405 Central NE) and Page One Books (11018 Montgomery NE) or by phone at (505) 255-2067. A complete schedule of films and events is available online at nmmecca.com.

Reel World

High on Movies—The fifth annual Taos Mountain Film Festival takes place Columbus Day weekend, unfurling the best documentary films on the environment, culture and wildlife of the world's remote regions plus cinematic looks at mountaineering, skiing and other extreme adventure sports. “Bullheaded” environmentalist Martin Litton, mountain climber Aron Ralston, world-champion freeskier Alison Gannett and TV show presenter, outdoor comedian and high-ball slackliner (god, I have no idea with that is) Timmy O'Neill are among this year's many guests.

Special events include a hike up the Taos Ski Valley led by Everest guide Dave Hahn, a forum on uranium contamination and a discussion of the historic Valle Vidal with Martin Litton and Jim O'Donnell, director of the Coalition to Save the Valle Vidal.

Taos Mountain Film takes place Friday, Oct. 7, through Monday, Oct. 10. Individual tickets are $10. Passes are available. For a complete listing of films, events and venues, log on to mountainfilm.net.

Reel World

Pedal-Powered Pictures—This weekend's third film festival takes place at the historic Lobo Theater in Nob Hill. The Bike-In Film Festival is being sponsored by BikeABQ.org and will feature all-day screenings of features and shorts about bike riding, bike racing and bike stunts as well as door prizes, an antique bike show and a photo exhibit. Tickets are $4 per program or $10 for all day. Screenings start at 11 a.m. Log on to bikeabq.org for more info.